The vasculature of a heart is comprised of blood vessels, such as arteries and veins, and the microvasculature. The microvasculature includes capillaries, arterioles, and venules, and are comprised of microvasculature endothelial cells. Numerous receptors are present on the cells that constitute the vasculature of a heart. The receptors known to exist on the cells include tumor necrosis factor (TNF) receptors and brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) receptors.
Disease of the heart vasculature, i.e., cardiovascular disease, is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in older individuals. As the populations ages, the need for optimal geriatric therapies is an increasingly important public health issue. Currently, myocardial infarction in older individuals has a significantly worse prognosis with higher mortality and complication rates than younger individuals. Furthermore, depending, in part, on the extent of vascular damage, an individual can have areas of the heart which are “old” (i.e., relatively unhealthy) and other areas which are “young” (i.e., relatively healthy). Therefore, senescent changes in the cardiovascular system plays an important role in predisposing older areas of the heart or older hearts, to increased vascular pathology.
Therefore, there is a need to determine the condition of a heart and to provide treatments targeted to specific areas of a heart.